What is Hope 36?
What better way to put our t-shirts to the test than entering a team into the Hope Festival 36 hour event?!
Hope festival is made up of three timed “races” the 12, 24 and 36 hour events. The races can be run by individuals, pairs or teams who cover as many loops around the 5 mile trail as possible in the given time.
We assembled an incredible team of 5 athletes, all seasoned trail ultra runners and set the goal of winning the team 36 hour event and setting a new course record! The guys did an amazing job covering 250 miles between them and between 45 and 55 miles each, smashing both targets along the way. It was an exhilarating, exhausting experience (and I was just support crew!).
Seb, Sam, Tom, Jake and Jack all gave it their all, running on very little sleep and very tired legs they kept smiling and never missed a beat. We knew we would have to have a runner on course from the opening bell to the final whistle and that’s exactly what they did.
Read on to see what three of our illustrious team members Tom, Jake and Sam made of the whole awesome experience in their own words.
Tom Rebham
How did I feel pulling into Newnham park in the lashing rain? It should have filled me with dread knowing I’m running about 50 miles in this weather, but seeing the Manumit banner and team setting up camp only made me more excited to race. An hour later - camp set up, shoes laid out with spare kit ready, chilling out in the tent - I hear the out-of-tune ‘happy birthday to you’ start…well this was one way to spend my birthday; running in loops for 36 hours! (side note: Team Manumit may be a good running team but not one for a singing competition). Once I’d eaten some birthday cake, camp was ready and we had signed on at race HQ. Jack was starting the first lap - he was on the start line with collective palpable race anxiety in the air.
The gun went off and Jack was flying out of the gate. We had arranged the race order and I was the fifth runner to start, so I knew my first loop would be in the middle of the night.
We were making good time already as a team and on my first loop at midnight on the Friday, I suddenly doubted what the hell I was doing. It was cold, wet and I could hardly see where I was going. However, after the first hill my heart rate was up and my legs were turning underneath me I realised how amazing this weekend was going to be. Following the first loop I walked back into the camp knowing I had the time to get a few hours kip which I capitalised on, sleeping for 4 hours. I then woke up in the early hours of Saturday morning with legs feeling brilliant and team Manumit steadily ticked off lap after lap. Throughout the Saturday we got through laps consistently faster and faster, with 200 miles within touching distance by midnight on Saturday night. My legs felt good and mentally I felt good, knowing I had done a 24 hour race only 6 weeks prior to Hope36, so I could easily get to 50 miles. I didn’t, however, anticipate how tired I would be with only 4 hours sleep since Thursday morning (41 hours ago) - stupid really. Throughout the Saturday night we ran 1 lap on and had 2 hours sleep time.
The toughest loop of the race: approximately 3am Sunday morningwaking up after only getting 30 minutes sleep, it was cold I was tired and I had to run a 5 mile loop. Needless to say, having the team relying on me, I got the lap done albeit my slowest one so far. I strolled into camp after my loop and straight into my sleeping bag with my Manumit top and running gear still on - why change when you are super comfortable and have to run in a few hours?!
Waking up early on Sunday morning I smashed a double espresso and felt like a new man (albeit a new man with legs that felt like an 80 year old’s!). I lined up for my final lap to just take it all in and enjoy it - regardless of the time. I fist bumped Jake to start my final lap and boom, my legs felt brilliant! I felt like I was flying over the roots and logs along the way. I finished my final loop faster than my first, running until the finish line knowing that team Manumit have the course record and the win.
I already can’t wait to be back next year and am mentally planning how we could push the course record further with Team Manumit.
Jake Gluyas
A week and a half on from Hope 36, legs are just about recovered and back onto training. As with most of these events, I’ve demonstrated how short-term my memory is. Back in 2018 I’d promised not to ‘get involved in those stupid ultra things’ after the Ironman. One-and-done, I’d decided I’d stick with up to half distance racing and be happy with balancing that with work and life…
Cue meeting Jack and Will through Plymouth Performance Gym (PPG) earlier this year and overhearing a conversation about a 36hr running event…
...I’ll claim Jack asked me rather than me offering to join the team and I’m sticking with it!
It was a phenomenal effort from the team despite hips, knees and ‘other bits’ suffering for more or less the get go (there’s only so far vaseline can go). And to maintain the consistency from everyone across the full 36hrs was nothing short of heroic. Biggest lesson for me was that consistency: a problem I’ve had with these ultra-long distance events is maintaining the level of running when you’re 6/7/8hrs in but happy to say I did manage to across the Hope 36. Every lap, kept moving at the same pace, finishing all within a 3minute range.
It also highlights the need for the support team; not sure where we would have been without the Team Manumit support crew from Kate, Will and Josh across the 2 days. Could I have completed that as a solo runner? Outside chance. Could I have completed it like we did without the support crew? Absolutely not. From the wake-up calls through the night and the parental scolding after each lap “I don’t care, drink this, eat this and make sure you have a wee before bed”.
I’m not stupid enough to make claims like “never again”, so lets try and learn something for next time/year:
- Bring even more kit, particularly shorts and socks
- More clothes lines
- More PB&J sandwiches!
- Bring the big whiteboard!
Sam Chick
I have run many ultramarathons in the last few years. One type of event I always avoid is ‘laps’ – I much rather a journey of discovery from A-B. However, when I was invited to run with Manumit in a team relay, I was delighted to get involved!
I would argue that I am quite experienced with ultra-running, but I had never run stop-start, nor as part of a team – this was something new, and I like an adventure into the unknown! How do I pace myself? How do I fuel? How do I sleep – do I sleep? I knew full well I wouldn’t sleep, and that is pretty much exactly how it transpired!
We gauged before we started the run that we would each run approximately 45 miles. After my first couple of laps, I quickly realised that running at my typical 50-mile ultra-pace was too conservative; the recovery between laps meant I was never going to get tired running at that pace – I could run much faster! We swiftly shifted our sights onto trying to achieve 250 miles between the 5 of us. To achieve this, not only did we require consistent laps times but also very swift transitions – the Manumit team did an excellent job to ensure that transitions were seamless, each one being signed off with a fist bump!
As the clock ran close to 36 hours we realised that we would be able to squeeze in one extra lap to finish after the 36 hours. One more lap. The 50th lap. The 250 mile lap! I still felt fresh so I was ecstatic to be the one to run the final lap for the team! As I turned the final corner, the rest of the team joined me to cross the start/finish line for the final time. We finished the event stronger than we had started it, as the event itself had brought us together.
Hope 36 was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, not just because of the running, but because of the excellent atmosphere and comradery within the team - what a brilliant group of people. Now, what next?
